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Stability of gel wax based optical scattering phantoms
Charlotte J Maughan Jones1, Peter R T Munro1,2
1Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Malet Place Engineering Building, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Biomedical Optics Express
|October 20, 2018
Summary
Mineral oil gel wax phantoms offer tunable optical scattering for imaging. While TiO2-based phantoms show temporal stability for repeated use, silica sphere phantoms do not due to reduced scattering over time.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Optics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Optical phantoms with tunable scattering properties are crucial for advancing optical imaging techniques.
- Mineral oil-based gel wax phantoms are gaining interest due to their ease of manufacture, safety, anatomical realism, and cost-effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal stability of optical scattering properties in gel wax phantoms.
- To determine the suitability of these phantoms for repeated use in optical imaging applications.
Main Methods:
- Preparation of gel wax phantoms with titanium dioxide (TiO2) powder and monodisperse silica microspheres as scatterers.
- Measurement and analysis of the reduced scattering coefficient (μ's) over time for both types of phantoms.
Main Results:
- Gel wax phantoms embedded with silica spheres exhibited a measurable reduction in scattering coefficient over time.
- Gel wax phantoms containing TiO2 powder demonstrated significantly greater temporal stability in their scattering properties.
Conclusions:
- Gel wax phantoms with silica spheres may not be suitable for repeated use due to temporal instability of scattering properties.
- Gel wax phantoms with TiO2 are more temporally stable, suggesting their potential for repeated use in optical imaging calibration and testing.
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